Kolkata: Candidates will get a fresh entry during every round of the West Bengal Joint Entrance counselling, along with the option to change their choices. Admission trends for individual institutes will be available on the portal to serve as a guide while filling out those choices. The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEEB) declared these revisions following the announcement of the results on Thursday, with 92,753 candidates qualifying out of the 94,901 who appeared.
Top Rankers: Majority from CBSE/CISCE
Among the top 10 rank holders, only two are from a Higher Secondary background, while the remaining eight are from either the CBSE or CISCE boards. Most of the top 10 plan to study at IITs or other central institutes, and a majority of them will move out of Bengal to pursue higher studies — a trend that persisted over the past few years. Questioned about this, WBJEEB chairman Goutam Pal declined to make a direct comment, saying, “We are the body that conducts the entrance test; these things we cannot answer.”
Top Five Rank Holders
Among the top five, Shaswat Banerjee from Nalanda Academy Senior Secondary School, Rajasthan, secured the top position, while Souriddha Mandal from Vivekananda Mission School secured the second rank. Umang Bhoot from PURV International School, Durgapur, secured the third position, Rahul Konar from DPS Newtown School took the fourth spot, and Sarban Bhattacharya from Garden High School, IISER Kolkata Campus, Nadia, secured the fifth position. All of them belong to either the CBSE or CISCE boards. Arha Bhattachary from Chandrakona Jirat High School and Manish Senapati from Midnapore Collegiate School in Paschim Medinipur — the only two — are from the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education.
Counselling Portal to Open Soon
Pal said the WBJEEB will open the counselling portal soon after receiving the seat matrix from the higher education department. It is likely to start functioning either in the last week of June or by the first week of July.
Key Revisions in Counselling Process
This year, students will get an opportunity for fresh registration and choice filling during every round of counselling. Board officials explained that the revision was introduced to give candidates an extra advantage. One official said, “We noticed earlier that most students get nervous while filling in their choices and make mistakes because of that. Now they can change their choices at any time during the three rounds of counselling. If any candidate misses the initial registration window, he or she can enter during the second or third round. Earlier, candidates only had the option for a fresh entry during the mop-up round after the registration window closed.” Students will have unlimited options for listing preferences across multiple colleges. The board is also allowing students to check last year’s trends on the website before locking in their decisions. “This will help them select the right option, allowing them to gauge whether they have a realistic chance at a particular college or if they should try elsewhere,” the official added.
Exam Statistics
A total of 1.2 lakh students enrolled, of whom 94,901 candidates appeared for the entrance test. Out of the total candidates who appeared, 67,378 are male and 25,368 are female. WBJEEB chairperson Goutam Pal stated that among the total qualified candidates, 19,088 are from other states. Last year, 1.1 lakh candidates appeared for the test, of whom 23,850 were from outside the state.
